NEW YORK – The ITA Leadership Awards Weekend opened Saturday with a group of collegiate tennis leaders participating in Arthur Ashe Kids Day at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York.
The 10 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners, 2019 NCAA Division I Male and Female Players of the Year and recipient of the ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award Endowed by Billie Jean King were invited to New York to be honored for their on-and-off-the-court excellence and participate in community outreach.
The group included ITA Arthur Ashe Award winners, Isaac Perez (Air Force Academy), Sophie Whittle (Gonzaga), Robin Möller (Georgia College), Paola Carpio (St. Edward’s University), Julian Gordy (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps), Mary Hill (Whitman College), Grant Esposito (Indiana Wesleyan University), Lizzie Bauss (Indiana Wesleyan University), Colten Way (Iowa Central Community College), and Maddie Mitchell (Santa Barbara City College). ITA Division I National Male and Female Players of the Year Nuno Borgess (Mississippi State University) and Katarina Jokic (University of Georgia), and ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award Endowed by Billie Jean King winner Andrew Akins (Duquesne University) also participated in the day’s events.
Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day powered by Net Generation is the largest single-day, grassroots tennis and entertainment event in the world, with chart-topping music acts and today’s best tennis players coming together to celebrate tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe.
The day features a ticketed Stadium Show inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, as well as a free Kids’ Festival.
The group spent the morning welcoming large numbers of youth onto the court where they had stations set up and offered instruction and opportunities for kids balls.
The day concluded with an awards banquet inside the Empire State Building where the award winners were recognized and received their awards.
The weekend concludes Sunday with the group making a visit to the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis in the Bronx where they will provide on-court instruction to New York youth.
About the Intercollegiate Tennis Association
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is committed to serving college tennis and returning the leaders of tomorrow. As the governing body of college tennis, the ITA oversees men’s and women’s varsity tennis at NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College divisions. The ITA administers a comprehensive awards and rankings program for men’s and women’s varsity players, coaches and teams in all divisions, providing recognition for their accomplishments on and off the court. For more information on the ITA, visit the ITA website at www.itatennis.com , like the ITA on Facebook or follow @ITA_Tennis on Twitter and Instagram.
